RWBY: Sins and Sanctum
by capricornunleashed999
Summary: The demons head to beacon, their world long gone they move on in a world and do what naturally comes to them. they fight, protect, and kill those threatening their ideals. Multiple pairings, first crossover fic. pairings yet to be decided, will be decided by story progression and will take input! rated M so i can do whatever i want.
1. prologue 1

RWBY: Sin and Sanctum

AUTHORS NOTE: Ok guys, first fic on this particular account so if you're reading and enjoy this i MUST push the importance of FEEDBACK. i have the entirety of the story up to current events in the RWBY canon but for now i'll speed out the first...3-5 chapters over the next few days. i'd like this to be more about character growth and interaction but i want to put a great amount of action in there as well. i myself am going to try to not glorify the devils to make them out to be more approachable as characters...but from a game as over the top as Devil May Cry i have my work cut out for me. with that said and done, i give you...CHAPTER ONE! and hopefully you give me reviews, follows, favorites, etc etc.

Chapter 1: prologue

Nero sat idly on the bus, eyes glazed over in uncontemplative thought, head resting on the chilled window and his eyes closed, cutting off most of his senses to his surroundings. this particular transport was headed to the ruined city, a aptly given nickname to the wasteland surrounding a demolished demonic tower, and home to the architect of its destruction, a seasoned demon hunter by the name of Dante Sparda...was Sparda his last name? or was it his fathers first? something to bring up in idle conversation he guessed.

Nero pondered the strange summons he received from the Son of Sparda, for he wasn't one to waste effort on friendly visits and delightful pop-ins. he figured if his presence was needed by the man, he should show. Not many people could get such devout compliance from the rebellious man then again, not many people had his respect equal to the extent dante does.

The transport lurched to a stop, his only way of his senses telling him he had reached his destination. He stands up, his joints giving an audible pop as he stretched out

'too stationary...too long.' mentally grumbling as he looked outside to find he was at the town edge, the bus driver refusing to venture further into the city. He unloaded his clothing and a large hard plastic and metal case with a red rose etched into it. this case held his trusted weapon, the red queen. though its companion, the blue rose sat ever-loyally along his lower back under the coat. He disembarked from the bus and looked around his surroundings...the place was deserted but held an eerie liveliness to it...as if ghosts were occupying ever ruined business and abandoned car. This made Nero a tad uncomfortable though he shrugged it off in his own personal way of dealing with such things...crudely voicing his opinion to himself

"i was under the impression this place was a dump, not a shithole..." he joked to himself, almost as if to test if anyone would answer him. He pulls his headphones off to hang loosely around his neck and slings the duffel over his shoulder, his blade-in-case carried like a briefcase at his side as he ventures into the city.

he followed Dantes vague instructions through the city until he reaches his destination, dante's place of business as marked by the pale red neon sign.

"Devil May Cry, huh? Doesn't have a bone for poetry does he?" Nero chides to himself as he places his duffle on the sidewalk and takes two steps onto the stair of the business before he stops and cocks an ear to hear something akin to...' **shifting...sand**?'

Obeying his instincts he turns on his heel and flips out his firearm, holding it to the nose of a blue reaper like demon. ' **same shit, different day** ' he resigns in his head, a smirk plays on his face as he pulls the trigger and with a loud *BANG*, relieves the creature of its life. He surveys the area, watching more of the demons crawl from demonic runes and piles of sand. He blasts the music on his headphones before walking into the center of the group, them surrounding their would-be prey...

"well...lets makes this short and sweet." he sarcastically laments as he raises his firearm and begins cutting them down one by one.


	2. prologue 2

authors note: alright guys, getting the gears turning and getting this on paper, i'm looking for a beta reader as well to help with punctuation, sentence flow spelling and overall critique the story, if that's you hit me up in the PMs and i'll get back to you pretty swiftly. on another note i will say after this just one more chapter till we get to remnant! i know i know, slow start and all but i try to be thorough and paint a picture. even if the chapters are kinda short i've been working on them daily and will get them out as fast as i can. if you become my beta reader you'd get to see them even faster. So without further adieu, next little bite! (also will work on making longer chapters)

prologue 2

Two more shots rang out and two more demons return to the dust. Nero sighs, spins and holsters his weapon before leaning backward a couple of inches as one more shot from a different weapon echoed in the air, namely a .45. the shot fired right past Neros nose into the gut of one last demon behind him, effectively bisecting it at the waist. Nero raised a brow at the proximity of the shot to his head before being awoken from his mental complaint by a mirthful taunt coming from the doorway.

"And stay off my lawn!...rotten kids..." Dante gave a small smile as he holstered the ebony handgun behind him, leaning against the door frame.

Nero turned to the older man a not-so small amount of annoyance present in his voice "you've been there a good ten seconds, just to swoop in at the last moment?"

Dante just shrugs and crosses his arms "you had it under control, kid. Besides, i had to think of a one-liner." with that remark he descends the stairs. "i thought you were comin' tomorrow?"

Nero shuffles uncomfortably and pushes pass Dante, no eye contact with the older man as he tosses his duffle onto a couch and opens the case to his blade for assembly. he hesitantly answers over his shoulder "i...left early."

Dante walks to the coat rack, grabbing his trench coat and slips it on deftly "sounds like girl problems, trouble in paradise, kid?" he probes, crossing his arms with a bemused smirk plastered across his face

Neros answer was a scowl and a dirty look shot in his direction "it's not a problem and Kyrie is /not/ a gi-"

"yeah yeah yeah, your honeyboo is aaaalllll woman. not like i haven't noticed kid, but uh your 'happily ever after' hasn't seem to have come yet...and i can tell this by one piece of information"

nero stands up, giving the now assembled blade a rev, to test its functionality half expecting to use it depending on what flies out of the devils mouth next "and what pray tell, would that be?" he asks, glaring daggers.

"in the years i've known you kid? you've never. not once. smiled." Dante states, holding one finger up. he begins to walk down the front steps to his shop before stopping seeming to mull something over.

"hey kid, don't get comfortable. There's something i got to do, and i'm taking you with me." he says this without turning to look at Nero, who had up to that second been contemplating the meaning of Dantes previous statement. he shakes his head, cleaning his thoughts and falling back into persona.

"tch, what? i just got here, run your errands yourse-"

"Nero...i want you to come with me." Dante stated. all mirth drained from his voice, indicating that this was important and non-negotiable. Nero instantly pick up on this and with a sigh he slings his blade along his back and falls in behind Dante without another word of protest.

Dante begins walking down the road, headed for the tower in the center of town at a leisurely pace with nero silently following. at some point more demonic entities started showing up blocking their path not that it conserned the two. Dante just looks to Nero and motions to the demons with a tilt of his head seeming to wordlessly offer them to the younger demon slayer. Nero rolls his eyes and pulls the blade from his back to easily dispatch the creatures. This process repeats several times before they make it to the ice covered foot of the tower ruin, Nero now appreciating the sheer size of the structure.

Nero decides to finally break the silence with a question while taking in the sight of the ice sheeted floor, crystallized walls and icicle covered ceiling "The hell are we?"

Dante looks around and with a small laugh he gestures around him "heh, hells doghouse." he continues to walk though the double doors into the main hall. Nero seems to pick up the hint that he didn't want to reveal why they were here just yet.

the pair kept ascending the ruins climbing when they needed to, fighting when necessary, (meaning Nero, Dante was content with watching and keeping his hands clean) and before long they stood on a winding ramp in the open air at the top of the tower. this is where Dante broke the silence. "tell me everything you know about this place."

Nero, puzzled for a second at the abruptness of the question takes a moment to gather his thoughts before reciting he knowledge of the events that transpired. "ten years ago this place popped out of the ground, demons began to pour out before it was even fully standing...it was a massacre." nero states this heavily not being able to imagine or compare it to Fortunas outbreak. Dante nods, not facing his companion but continuing the pop-quiz

"right, so that would make this tower...?" he trails off quirking an eyebrow

"a Hellgate, whats your point?" Nero finishes

"what if i told you it was raised from the depths by a man so enthralled with power he'd unleash hell on earth just to claim what he believe was his birthright?"

Nero seemed to become annoyed at Dantes round about story "no offence, but i don't think you brought me here for a lesson in demonology, or a story about some lunatic with compensation issues. We had enough of that in Fortuna...what happened?"

Dante sighed and rubbed the back of his head "he and i clashed...several times and well...i'm still here, he isn't."

Nero studied the older man for a moment, did he seem...solemn? deciding to see if he could maybe console the man he shrugs "good riddance, one less megalomaniac right?"

"true...no good could come of such a thing, right?" Dante probes as they approach the steps to the towers summit.

"Not a damn thing" the younger devil stated plainly

"its funny you say that when that "lunatics" power is running through your veins this very moment." dante shoots over his shoulder causing Nero to stop at the top of the stairs while Dante continues to the center of the platform.

The younger man takes the clues he's gathered from Dantes cryptic words before the meaning finally dawns on him 'he was your...' he doesn't finish seeing Dante place a single blue rose in the center of the tower, as if to confirm his conclusion without words before returning to Neros side

"The world ain't black and white, kid. he had a sense of honor, of justice...twisted? yes, but it still was there. just as the power you got from him was used to kill hundreds, you'll use it to save em right?"

Nero thinks on this, his eyes dropping to his right arm, curling his fingers into a fist "yeah...count on it."

Dante nods in conformation "ten years to the day...hey kid it's starting to rain you should start heading ba-" he didn't finish as his hand flashes to his firearm and he fires it behind his back, punching a hole through his coat and embedding itself into a creature that was mere moments from pouncing on top of Nero.

Nero turn to it as it falls on its back near the edge of the tower, wondering how it got the drop on him. he looks it over to take in just what it was exactly.

The creatures body contorts, treating the pair to the sound of joints dislocating and relocating back in their sockets finally its upside-down head turns a full one eighty and it seems to have righted itself. two and a half meters long, seeming to at a glance be made of pure liquid mercury. as it got up they get a better look at it. it looked like a rather large salamander except rather muscular, its mercurial body seeming to throb on random points on its body seeming to make it out to actually be a liquid, sealed inside a membrane. didn't seem to have eyes though ...just two interlocking turning gears at the top of it's head which seemed to tilt to one side slowly before resetting to level with a metronome-like *click* in perfect timing. its body swells and it lets out a screeching roar as it decompresses revealing if anything...it was that this demon sure as hell had teeth, several rows of them.

Nero just stood in a morbid mix of disgust, anger and curiosity at the demon that was giving off the feeling of being rather dangerous. "The hell...is THAT?"

Dante holsters his pistol and pulls rebellion from his back letting the tip kiss the stone floor, emitting sparks as he strides over in the direction of the demon "donno...lemme go ask it." once Nero was out of earshot the playful banter ended as Dantes eyes gained a sharpness to them. the creature had begun to approach him, crushing the memento he had offered moments ago. "you really...picked a bad day to piss me off."


	3. prologue 3

AUTHORS NOTE: ok guys, last chapter before we get to Remnant, thanks for the patience. on another note, at the moment i'm struggling with one major part of the story...how to get the anti-social, power craving, sociopath dressed in blue to play nice in a school, to write him as a bit "mellow" without out it being too forced...would love to hear feedback on such a thing. On that note, here is prologue 3!

prologue 3

Nero watched, vexed, as Dante's blade met nothing. Again and again rebellion struck air as the creature's viscous body would barely move to make each and every swing miss it's mark. Noticing this, Dante leapt back and began to pepper the creature with pistol fire, the bullets burying into its body with a ripple and exiting through the other side. Taking a moment to retreat, the veteran demon hunter leapt back and landed beside Nero with an exasperated huff. "Okay, that's a bit annoying..."

"Blades don't work, Guns don't work. What's next?" Nero asks, ready to assist Dante in taking the creature down.

"See kid, this is why you're still wet behind the ears. If our blades don't work… then why is it bothering to dodge em?" Dante asks rhetorically before charging the creature once more with a smirk, Nero following suit. They place themselves on both sides of the demon before they unleash a flurry of strikes, stabs and swings.

Thanks to the second devil hunter's intervention, the demon had to move it's body twice as fast to avoid all the strikes. Swinging Red Queen horizontally, the demon flattens it's head so that Nero's blade would safely pass by him. However, the blade still managed to kiss the edge of one of the gears on it's head, which in turn created a small ***Ting,*** and caused an almost unnoticeable recoil to spread throughout the creature… almost.

The moment Dante saw this, the beast was finished. Using the instinct he gained from years of fighting, the red clad son of Sparda used the miniscule opening to leap above it and throw rebellion into it's head, locking the blade between the teeth of both gears and preventing the slippery demon from moving it's head. He then landed on the handle and forced Rebellion deeper into it, earning a high pitched scream from the creature before he jumped back to Nero's side. With their opponent now completely open, Dante jokingly gestured towards the pinned demon in an overly-flamboyant manor.

"The honor is all yours, kiddo." The elder hunter offered, gesturing towards the demon like he was royalty. "Tch, I think the word you're actually looking for is work." Nero responded, a smirk beginning to grow on his face.

"Eh, you say potato, I say spud." Nero couldn't help but scoff at this statement, but nevertheless obliged. Walking over to the side of the Demon, he revved up Red Queen before bringing the modified blade down onto the demon's head, separating it's head from it's body and causing it's blood, which seemed to be a substance similar to mercury, to fly everywhere. Along with this, the gears on the creature's head were sent flying all over the area. Taking this all as a sign that the creature was dead, Dante removed Rebellion from the it's body and hoisted the blade onto his shoulder. With their opponent now finished, the elder demon hunter began to head back towards the stairs that led to the rest of the Temin-Ni-Gru.

"Seems to me that the freaks come out more often at night. C'mon, let's get outta here before we meet any o-" it was at this time that Dante noticed the "blood" on his blade began to drip to the floor and pool into a glob. As soon as he noticed this, the glob immediately sped towards the corpse of the creature. He put the pieces together and turned towards his companion.

"NERO! MOVE!" Dante yelled as he sprinted towards the center in a futile attempt to stop the glob before it reached the demon's corpse.

The next few moments felt horrifyingly slow to Nero. Upon hearing Dante's yell, the knight of the Order looked towards him only to be distracted by the gigantic blob made up of a silver substance where the demon's corpse used to be. He didn't have any time to react before the glob suddenly expanded and towered of the shocked Nero, seemingly intending to completely engulf him. However, just as he was about to be swallowed by the monster, he felt Dante suddenly blind side him and send him careening towards the edge of the tower.

By the time Nero managed to reorient himself and get up, he was greeted with the sight of Dante swinging Rebellion at the blob with an uppercut-like motion, only to get completely engulfed by the monster. For a moment, the entire area was completely quiet, with Nero too shocked with what he just saw to do anything and the blob not moving an inch. However, the tense silence was broken when a dark-red aura began to radiate around the blob and a scaley, demonic hand suddenly burst out of it's mast, indicating that Dante clearly wasn't going to go down without a fight.

Shaking off his shock, Nero shot his right arm forward and sent the Devil Bringer's ethereal form towards the older man's arm, grabbing onto it. Wasting no time, the knight used as much strength as he could muster to pull Dante out of the Demon's body. However, just as he began to see the older hunter's Devil Triggered head slowly come out of the silver mast, it's two gears, which had previously been forgotten by Nero, suddenly flew back into it's head with a firm ***Click.*** As soon as this happened, the demon's previously bloated and blob-like body suddenly compressed before it gives off a sheen white glow. As if in response to this, Dante's slowly emerging body was suddenly pulled back and resubmerged in the demon's body… and as a consequence, the ethereal form of the Devil Bringer was pulled into it as well, which in turn caused Nero's body to slowly gravitate towards the demon.

"Shit! Shit! **SHIT!** What the hell is this thing made of!?" Nero yelled out, trying to pull the Devil Bringer out of it's body before he also got consumed. The Demon, not paying the knight any mind, opened it's mouth and raised it's head skyward, letting out a bellowing screech as it's entire body takes on a pale but bright white aura and began to grow larger. Despite only being the Devil Bringer's ethereal form, Nero found he couldn't call it back, nor could he pull it out of the demon's body, essentially meaning he was trapped.

' _...If I somehow live through this, then I'm gonna shoot that old fucker in the head.'_ Nero thought grimly once he was only a foot away from the glowing monster. Suddenly, the glowing demon suddenly emitted a bright light, temporarily blinding the young demon hunter. However, before he could regain his vision, he began to feel the sickening sensation of the demon's goop-like body as it consumed him entirely. As soon as this happened, Nero felt himself lose his footing just before he fell into the endless, shining abyss that this demon had become.

 **ALRIGHT! ok now we'll get into it...and I'm going to be keeping you guys in the dark till a later juncture where exposition seems appropriate, make it flow into the story better and make some things a bit more sudden and exciting. or so I say if that what you guys want to see.**


	4. Chapter 1

chapter 1.

As Blake Belladonna dashed through the forest with Adam Taurus sprinting ahead of her, she promised herself that this would be her last job she did for the White Fang. She believed in making a difference, but not like this. Not by following in her compatriots footsteps and losing herself in the hate that drives this rebellion. After sliding down the hill and deftly landing on the train car, she watches as Adam performs the same action, albeit with much less grace, evidenced by him digging his blade into the roof of the car. While Blake had initially wondered if she could pull this off with minimum difficulty, her hopes were tarnished when the when the robotic security around the train begin to awaken.

"Looks like we're doing this the hard way." Adam states this plainly, his grip on his blade tightening slightly.

"Don't be so dramatic." Blake retorts, taking this time to asses her next move as the robots demand identification from them. they got their answer in the form of a sword's hilt colliding with the head of one of it's own before Adam deftly catches the blade and slashes the robot in half, sheathing his sword in one fluid motion. Blake takes this time to follow suit and spring into action, making short work of the knights in the cabin through use of her clones and her partner's assistance.

Their fight moves outside on a flatbed as more of the atlasian knights come flooding in from both sides. She moves in synch with her partner, all done with ease brought on by years of fighting side by side. It made her heart heavy to think that she would betray his trust like she was planning to, but she had already resolved to her choice. As the last one fell, they move on to the next car, which contains the shipment crates, all of which have the Schnee dust company crest labeled on them

"Perfect, move up to the next car, I've already set the charges." Adam states after checking the crates' contents. Blake stops at this, knowing and dreading the answer to her question already.

"What about the crew members?" She asked, hoping for one last chance to install doubt within Adam. However, even before she got the answer, Blake already knew what he was going to say, reaffirming that her choice tonight was going to be the right one.

"what about them?" the calloused man answered, with no time to argue or elaborate the car shook as a large four legged spider tank fell from the ceiling, now demanding their attention. Off put by such a large machine targeting them, Blake calls out Adam's name quitely. In response to this, the red-haired man rushed the machine with Blake right behind him. However, before any of them can make any real damage, she is almost immediately sent recoiling by the head of the machine while it also kicks Adam away from it.

As Adam flies past her, the leg that kicked Adam away was then poised to crush her. Still recoiling from the blow she endured, she had no time to react as the leg flew down to her, ready to smash her flat. However, just before this happened, Adam, who had recovered from the blow he endured rather quickly, proceeded to grab her and get Blake out of the mechanical leg's range.

"We need to get out of here." Blake tells Adam once she gets back up, motion towards the door behind them. However, it takes her another moment before she realizes something else has caught his attention. The spider-tank had planted it's legs and combined it's weapons to fire off one powerful and large attack towards them.

In response to this, the leader of the White Fang quickly stepped in front of Blake before drawing his sword. Blocking quickly, Adam's blade managed to take the brunt of the blow and leave them with little to no damage, albeit not without sending them both flying outside and onto the next flatbed. The robot quickly follows them outside only to be assaulted by Blake, now tasked with buying the swordsman time. Using her agility and clones in tandem, she does everything in her power to be a complete nuisance to her attacker, however, when it begins to charge up the same attack from before, she quickly leaps back behind Adam, whose posture is braced. When it finally fires, he uses the edge of his blade to capture the energy of the blast before immediately sheathing it, seemingly intending to capture it's power. Since it's energy shot failed, the tank proceeded to leap towards it's target, now intending to crush him. Taking this all in stride, Adam took the chance to draw and strike with his blade in one swift horizontal movement cleanly slicing the tank and two and causing the red trees to shake around him due to the power behind that strike.

However, Adam's concentration was thrown off when he felt Blake suddenly bump into him. Looking towards her, he was about to tell her to keep setting up the charges, but any words die in his mouth when he sees the cat faunus looking at something behind the wreckage of the robot with a look of unease on her face. Following her eyes, he sees that she was looking at a single man in an Atlas military uniform. Somehow, the man had been observing the entire fight with the robot without either of them noticing… Adam hadn't even sensed his presence until just now.

The man was dressed in atlas military issue garments from head to toe. White boots, white slacks, and a black long sleeved button up shirt underneath a white vest. Hanging off from the entire ensemble is a white military coat. His face was hidden as he hadn't turned to address them, though they were more concerned with his slicked back snow white hair, a known trait of the Schnee family, and the long O-katana held behind his back lazily, letting the yellow ribbon on it's sheath fly in the breeze.

' _The report didn't say that there would be somebody guarding this train personally… this wasn't part of the plan.'_ Blake thought as she looked at the white-haired stranger with narrowed eyes, trying to think if she missed anything in the report they were given. Her gaze moves over to Adam who walks up and seems to see nothing but another foe to be cut down. Her hand on gambol shroud tightens as the man turns around, hands becoming unclasped as he brings his own weapon in front of him. She tenses slightly as her analytical Gold orbs meet cold blue ones. Adam breaks her out of her cautious approach by yelling to the man over the roar of the train.

"Well, this is a surprise. Since when has the Schnee's ever sent one of their own to protect their cargo?" He spat, sizing up their new opponent. In response, the man merely scoffed at Adam's words before turning back around, clearly not intimidated by the fellow swordsman.

"...Am I being _ignored_?" Adam growls, his hand on the hilt of his blade, ready to slice this man up for his blatant disrespect. However, before he could make the first move, Blake's hand on his shoulder stops him.

"Adam, let's just go, this wasn't part of the plan." She whispered to him quietly, her yellow eyes never leaving the white haired man. In response, Adam merely brushes her hand off his shoulders before stepping forward. "Change of plans Blake, assassinating this Schnee bastard is our top priority now." And with that declaration of war, he sets off at a breakneck speed towards the white-haired man.

The moment Adam passes the man; he draws his sword, hoping to end this confrontation in one swift strike. However, the sound of metal cutting metal resonating through the air leaves Adam shocked for a split-second before hoping back two steps.

The man says nothing, does nothing but stand there; his katana now unsheathed. It seemed that the moment Adam executed his strike; his opponent performed a similar move to counter him. Now facing them, the man took a deep and calm breath as he sheathed the blade, now taking a good look at the red head's mask before he looked towards Blake. Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Adam rushes towards the man once again, signaling for Blake to back him up.

Blake pulls up Gambol shroud and peppers the air with gunfire. The man draws his sword once more, spinning it like a propeller and deflecting the rounds that Blake fired to Cover Adam's approach. As he gets within swinging distance, he draws wilt and swings it faster than the eye can follow before the deafening sound of blade clashing with blade rings out through the area. Somehow, the man managed to track and deflect Adam's blow like it was nothing before sheathing his katana and adopting a similar stance to his opponent. Blake's eyes widen and she instinctively flips backwards to dodge the blade of the man, who in a split-second managed to decrease the distance between them.

Upon realizing this, Adam turns around quickly and rushes forward all the while, giving a nod to Blake, whose eyes narrowed in response. Understanding her partner's silent request, she throws her weapon into the air, swinging it in large arcs that forces their opponent to back up and duck to dodge, unknowingly bringing himself directly into Adam's range. Stoic as ever, the redhead draws wilt once more to slay their adversary, only to be stopped when the man, his eyes narrowed in annoyance, suddenly kicks onto the hilt of the blade, forcing it back into it's sheath. However, Adam counters this by pulling the trigger on blush, launching the sword from it's sheath and sending the man flying to the other side of the train cart. However, the enigmatic swordsman takes this all in stride, regaining his balance mid-flight and landing on his feet, his back to his opponents.

"We need an opening…" Adam thinks aloud, staring down the white-haired swordsman, who has sheathed his katana once again, his posture confident and proud. However, Blake, who still feels this entire encounter is unnecessary, takes this opportunity to speak up.

"Adam, we accomplished what we came here for, let's just go already." She states, however, it's clear that her words fell upon deaf ears when the look on Adam's face clearly indicates he already came up with an idea. He pulls his blade close and prepares for one more moonslice. "On my signal…blow the charges."

Blake's eyes widen in shock for a moment before narrowing "You'd kill all those people just to kill him?"

"Those people are the enemy, and I'd kill all of them for a chance to kill a Shnee." He looks at her from the corner of his eye behind his mask, still focusing his semblance while their opponent waits patiently. As Blake holds the detonator she thinks if this is the last one… that if she does this, then she can be free from all this and repent for what she's done… she truly wants to make this right, but to do that, she needs to leave. Did she really believe that she owed the fang, that she owed Adam that much?

Her hesitation gives Adam all the time he needs. Now glowing with his condensed power, he readies himself before reaching over to Blake's hand and looking in her eyes. Blake silently thanks him for comforting her and understanding that this was difficult for her.

However, it's only just after this thought goes through her head that it's immediately proven to not be the case. with a squeeze of her hand over the detonator, a click resounds throughout the train as the charges spin up and his hand whips back to his sword, eyes locked on his victim.

Blake's eyes widen in horror as the next few moments slow down for her, the explosion rocking the train cars behind the Atlesian, him being thrown off balance from the sudden explosion. Adam uses this to advantage and strikes, with the swordsman only able to raise his arms in defense. As soon as the redhead strikes, a shimmer of aura appears over the man's chest for a split-second before blood begins to spill out of his arms and chest and he's sent flying into the wreckage of flaming carts behind him. Satisfied with his work, Adam turns back to Blake, only to be shocked into silence by what he sees.

Standing on the next cart is Blake with tears running down her face. Before Adam can even attempt to stop her, she shakes her head and raises gambol shroud.

"Goodbye…" And with that tearful farewell, Blake slices the coupling in half, allowing the part of the train she's standing on to keep going and effectively separating her from Adam. The redhead can only watch as his former teammate escapes from view around the mountain blend. So full of anger and hurt from what he just witnessed, he is none the wiser of the bloodied and burnt figure climbing out of the burning wreckage behind him and walking away from the stopped train carts.

The man grumbled to himself as he walked deeper into the red forest. With his current outfit now ruined and his previous means of transportation now gone with that girl, it becomes apparent that he's in for a very long walk from here on out…

 **((Hope you liked it!))**


	5. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **AUTHORS NOTE: hey guys, I know it's been a hot minute but I'd like to thank you all for your patience and must ask you all to review and such please. I'll be better about getting them out or at least do my best with it. Thanks and I do promise you will get filled in on why whoever Is here is well…here later in the story. I'd just like to get it off the ground and into remnant now, we'll get to backstory more when we get into the teams as well. So with that, CHAPTER 2!**

So far, Yang had to admit that she was not pleased at all with how her hunt for info had gone tonight. What started as checking this bar out for info ended with the blonde being surrounded by every goon in this sleaze hole just because she might've accidently knocked out their boss! It was all such an unfair and completely unfortunate turn of ev- okay, maybe she was a LITTLE pleased with how things were turning out.

' _Go out for some info, instead I get exercise. I can live with that!'_ The blonde mused to herself with a smile, cracking her knuckles in wake of the upcoming beatdown. Suddenly, before any of the mobsters could react, Yang flipped into the air and let her gauntlets open over her forearms before slamming onto the ground fist-first. The shockwave that ensued because of this sent the surrounding goons flying away from her, giving her ample time to reload her gauntlets and get a headstart in this brawl. In no time flat, she makes short work of all the mobsters in the club, with every shot from Ember Cecilia hitting their mark and every punch she threw connecting with plenty of force, sending the goons flying in every direction.

Slamming her fist into the gut of the last goon, Yang stands up and takes a moment to admire her handiwork before the DJ, who hadn't done anything up until now, began to fire at her from his booth. Not worried by this in the slightest, the blonde brawler dodges and weaves through the automatic gunfire before using her gauntlets to blast her up to the booth. Now that the DJ was within her range, she proceeded to beat down the costumed man without mercy, slamming his head into the turntables brutally before throwing him into the gigantic pile of incapacitated goons on the floor. After taking a moment to admire her handiwork, her attention is suddenly drawn to two girls, apparently twins, standing in the middle of the dance floor with a defiant look on their faces.

'Oh hell yeah, _here comes a new challenger!'_ Yang mentally quips, pleased with this sudden turn of events. Judging from the appearance and standing of these twins, it seemed like the blonde would be in for an actual challenge now. After reloading her gauntlets, the blonde wastes no time and jumps from the booth, raining down hellfire in the form of shotgun blasts on the two twins before landing in front of them and engaging in close combat with the both of them Despite being momentarily overwhelmed by their skill and cohesive teamwork, she recovers quickly and slowly begins to turn the tables on them, first by knocking back the one in white before focusing on the one in red, who was now furiously swiping at her with her claws.

At this point, with no second person to break her concentration, Yang was having a much easier time with this fight. The swipes of the girl's claws were very predictable and easy to avoid, allowing her to steadily gain the upper hand on her. Deciding to finish things off, the blonde ducks under another claw swipe, uses this opening to hook the girl in her gut, and uppercutting her into the air and finishing her off with a powerful straight jab to the mid section, courtesy of Ember Cecilia. With one sister now out of commission, that just left the one in white, who was now charging at Yang with renewed vigor upon seeing her sister get taken out. As a testament to her rage, her attacks left very little room for comfort, with her footwork nearly flawless and her bladed heels nearly cutting Yang on many different occasions. While this girl definitely gave the blonde more trouble, all she needed was one slip up on her part to take her down, and that slip up came during one sloppy kick. Dodging the kick with ease, she spun out of the way before following up with a recoil powered elbow to the gut. With this connecting, she grabbed her arm and yanked her forward before finishing her off with a leaping roundhouse, sending the girl sprawling to the ground.

" _TKO, and then there were none…"_ She thought to herself with a pleased smile on her face before looking around the dance floor for Junior, ignoring the twins now limping across the glass mentally surmised while looking around for Junior once more, ignoring the two girls now limping and crawling respectively across the glass floor. She saw where she left him, semi conscious against the bar.

"C'mon Junior~! You weren't planning on leaving me hanging, were you?" Yang asks in a sickly sweet voice before something else grabs her attention. Namely, the sound of boots walking across broken glass and a smooth voice addressing the two girls.

"Just sleep it off, ladies…" Upon hearing this, the blonde quickly spins around to catch sight of the new arrival only to see nothing. This confused her for a moment before she heard the boots behind her once again. Not wasting any time, she turns around once more and this time catches sight of the perpetrator that's been messing with her. The culprit turned out to be a boy around her age. He wore a black, fur lined hoodie, and khaki cargo pants tucked into a pair of black boots. All in all, it would've been a fairly normal look if it hadn't been for the shaggy mop of snow white hair and the two large. 45s he had tucked into the back of his pants haphazardly. She was somewhat perplexed at his sudden arrival before he spoke once more after gesturing all around him.

"Whew, and I thought my old place was a dump..." The young man remarks with some mirth in his voice. "Did the party bus roll through here while I was on my break or something? When you guys asked for a bouncer, I didn't think you'd need on this badly." He remarked, looking in the direction of the indisposed owner as he said this.

"Well jackass, if you think you're getting paid for this, you're out of your mind." Junior spat out as he held onto the bar to hoist himself back up.

Yang just raised an eyebrow at this new development. _"Looks to me like he's not very good at his job…"_ The buxom blonde mused as she romanticized her single handed demolition of the place. The new man just shrugged before walking up to a guitar case and picking it up, slinging it over his shoulder with an exasperated sigh.

"Alright, whatever you say pal. If you wanna pin this on me, then feel free to send me the bill for your club from your hospital bed." He says with a nonchalant look on his face before heading for the door, his guitar case over his shoulder. "Of course, this is all assuming you can still hold a pen once the bombshell over there is done with you."

"okay, okay! Just wait a minute!" Junior calls out in desperation, hoping to stop the white haired boy. "Just do your job, and you'll get paid, and we'll even call this square, alright?" This statement causes the young man to suddenly stop for a moment before dropping his guitar case. "…..aaaand?" he asks expectantly.

Junior grits his teeth in annoyance before speaking once again. "OKAY, FINE! I'll give you a damn raise! Now will you just do your job!?" Without waiting for a response, the owner of the nightclub quickly hobbles away. Yang was about to follow after him before the young man suddenly stood between herself and Junior, dropping the guitar case with a loud ***THUD*.** Now that she had a better look at him, it was now clear that this guy was actually very handsome. with smooth frontal features, cool blue eyes, and a blood-red athletic shirt that was complemented by a platinum framed gem hanging from his neck.

" _whoa, hottie!"_ Was all Yang could think of before she reloaded her gauntlets one more time and he his pistols, pointing them at the blonde the way a gangster would.

"Sorry about this sunshine, but you heard the man. I got mouths to feed… mainly mine, but that's beside the point. Long story short, I have to do the chivalrous and gentlemanly thing and kindly ask you to get the hell out of here." He said in a upbeat but warning tone. Yang just smiles back at him, holding her fists up in her boxer's stance.

"Aw c'mon, handsome! Me and Junior were just getting to know each other. I don't know about him, but I think it was going somewhere~." she said, sickeningly sweet to the new object of her aggression.

In response, the white-haired teen looks over his shoulder to the retreating Junior before looking back to Yang with a questioning gaze. "Into older men, huh? A real shame, now you've gone and broke my heart." The young man whines, mock disappointment in his voice. However, it's only temporary, for a second after saying this, a smirk that matches Yang's to a T begins to grow on his face.

"And now I'm going to break your face!" she declares gleefully as she slams her fists together, her body seeming to ignite once more, causing the boy to raise an eyebrow and holster the gun once more. He bends forward and presents the left side of his face to her, tapping his cheek taping his cheek in a gesture that was clearly meant to taunt Yang.

This little action was all the invitation the blonde needed, for right after this, she leaps forward with her fist raised, another shotgun blast rocketing her towards her new opponent. However, just before her fist could hit it's mark, the white-haired boy simply changed the course of her fist by simply moving it with the barrel of his gun, causing the blow to pass harmlessly over his head. Yang, not one to be surprised by such a strange tactic, follows this up by using her momentum to deliver a roundhouse kick towards the same cheek. Taking this in stride, the boy takes a step back, letting the boot meet nothing but air before Yang regains her stance and hops closer to him, just to be within arm's length. The white-haired boy pulls out the previously holstered pistol and points it directly at her nose, though as he pulls the trigger, she redirects his arm to have it harmlessly pass by her head. This back and forth kept happening each time Yang tried to connect one of her hits with the white-haired teen, his smug smile never leaving his face the entire time.

Because of all this, Yang was beginning to grow very annoyed. She had the same rush, but none of the control. It was though they were dancing and he was the lead, and she couldn't have that, now could she? With a furious cry, she took a shot from a .45 head on, letting her aura absorb the damage before following this up with a powerful punch to the side of the face, earning a muted grunt from the young man. Capitalizing on the opening she finally achieved, Yang ducked between his arms and proceeded to hook him in his gut, following up with an ember Cecilia powered uppercut that sent him flying into the air. Jumping up after him, the blonde finished up her combo by spiking him with as much strength she could muster, sending him flying into a nearby loveseat.

After all this, Yang's eyes, which had previously taken on a blood-red hue during her attack, changed back to their lilac color. Not even noticing how enraged she had previously been, the blonde walked over to the chair to see if the guy was still breathing. However, as she began to close in, she was suddenly knocked back when the chair was suddenly launched at her, hitting her head on. Before she could lift it off her, however, another chair was suddenly thrown onto her, trapping her underneath their weight. Wasting no time, the young man landed on top of the chairs before unloading both of his .45s into the furniture with the blonde still trapped underneath it, the amount of bullets being fired and the speed at which they were fired being truly staggering. By the time he was finished, there was a steady smoke coming out of both his pistols and both couches were peppered with bullet holes.

"You still with me, gorgeous?" The man asked jokingly, wondering if the blonde would actually respond to him.

"I'm alr-" * **BANG BANG BANG*** And before Yang could finish that sentence, three more bullets were blasted into the couch.

Yang, not one to take anything lying down (And just as likely to make an awful pun about her situation), fired Ember Cecilia at the center of the couch, splitting what was left of it in half as the flares flew upwards, forcing the man to back flip away from her with an amused laugh. Deciding she had more than enough, her hair and eyes both flare up before charging at him with a newfound speed, turning the smug grin on his face to a look a genuine surprise.

"Oh… crap."

She managed to close the distance between them while firing some flares at him, which he managed to avoid with little effort. However, upon seeing that the girl was now within punching distance to him, he wasted no time and shot her point blank in the face. Or at least, he would've if she hadn't ducked under the shots and appearing right between his arms, now nose to nose with her opponent. Thinking quickly, quickly, the white haired teen wound back his head and proceeded to headbutt the blonde in the face. However, it seemed that the blonde had a similar idea, for she proceeded to do the same thing, which ended with their scalps colliding. Due to raw power that was behind her headbutt, however, it managed to leave the man momentarily stunned, which gave Yang enough time wrap her arms around him and suplex him to the ground, cracking the glass underneath it. Taking a ragged breath, she stood up and looked over the slumped down man.

' _MAN! Now that's what I call a challenge! Honestly, if it wasn't for my semblance, I don't think I could've pulled that off.'_ However, she didn't have enough time to think about this further before she suddenly took a blunt object to the side of the head, dazing her briefly before she could turn around and see Junior holding onto a large bat, already reeling up for another swing. Considering who she just thought, dealing with him consists of simply grasping the bat mid-blow before using her free hand to deliver a savage blow to his gut. Following this up, she then proceeds to jab Junior in the face, which then sends the hapless bar owner flying into the bar once again with a oof. She locks eyes with him briefly before his gaze falls to his hand, and hers follows to see a clump of golden hair in his gloved fingers. Her hair. Her precious, Beautiful locks.

"Okay, that just about DOES IT!" Yang screamed in fury before she shone even brighter than she did before and sprinted full speed towards Junior, intending to make him experience an unholy retribution for the sin he's committed tonight. However, She could only hone in on her target about half the way when she heard the rustling of cloth and the singing of steel before the white-haired boy stood between her and junior once again. This time, instead of his firearms, a large gothic two handed claymore was in his hands.

He had stepped into the girl now flying at him and pulls his sword, swinging at an angle akin to a baseball player, and it was about to collide with her midsection. She was forced to bring both bracers in front of her and ball up to absorb the blow fully, the flare meant for junior now flying into the scaffolding, bringing it down. Yang herself was sent flying back though she was able to recover from a roll. The man was forced sliding backwards from the power behind the girl…Directly into his boss, slamming into him once more into the bar and into blissful unconsciousness. He turns and looks down at junior a single "damn…" escaping his lips. Though the misfortune didn't end there, the scaffolding that had fallen which held up all the lights were now sending sparks out, igniting the booze spilt on the floor, setting the club ablaze. As Yang looks around the flaming wreckage of the bar, the fact that this entire disaster is more or less her fault begins to dawn on her. A part of her really had to wonder how a simple search for information could end in such disaster. In response to this revelation, the buxom blonde opened her mouth and expressed this realization in the most eloquent way possible.

"Uhm… I might've… just might've, gone a BIT overboard there, hehe..." She laughs awkwardly before detracting her gauntlets and making a break for the door.

Once outside, she turns around to see the once bustling nightclub now lit up like a birthday cake before her attention is turned to a shattering window with the white haired boy jumping out, guitar case on his back and junior slung on his shoulder. He sighs and drops Junior to the floor before he takes up the spot next to Yang looking at the club. It was he who broke the silence first.

"Well, looks like there's no saving this place then, huh?"

"Noooope." The blonde states with a matter-of-fact tone in her voice.

"Not exactly how I pictured me spending my night…"

"Me neither."

"…I'm not getting that raise, am I?"

"Probably not."

This earns a frustrated sigh from the boy before he begins to walk off, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well I got to say sunshine; you sure know how to party. Can't remember the last time I was taken by surprise like that." He says as he shrugs his shoulders, walking down the sidewalk looking like he had no care in the world. Yang, now confused at the nonchalant attitude of her former opponent, looks to his retreating back with a raised eyebrow.

"So that's, that?"

"That's that. Now if you excuse me, I have to start looking for a new job." He states flatly as he turns the corner and disappears into the night.

Yang was confused, angry, befuddled, and all and all strangely intrigued with how her night on the town went. She was drawn out of her musings by the sound of a more familiar voice.

"Yang? Is that yo- AAAHHHHHH OHMYGOSHWHATHAPPENEDHERE?" The silver eyed girl panicked, already assuming the worst upon seeing her big sister standing in front of a burning building with such a proud expression on her face. In response to all this, Yang turned towards Ruby and smiled, it was always great to see her little sister!... that being said, this wasn't exactly the best time either.

"Oh hey sis!" She speaks quite chipper, though Ruby wasn't having it.

"Don't 'Hey, Sis!' me!" what happened here!?" she practically yells out, gesturing to the burning building, which was now falling apart.

"Oh that….well I uh," Yang states Diverting her eyes from the building to the corner the man rounded and back to Ruby; gracing her sister with a great big grin and rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

"I made a new friend!"


	6. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As Nero leaned against the railing of the airship viewing deck, he watched the ground get further and further away as the ship took off. While he was watching the take off, A news broadcast began to play, the caster speaking of a foiled robbery orchestrated by one "Roman Torchwick," who apparently pulled some crap that Nero couldn't care less about. Letting out a bored sigh and stretching his legs slightly, the young man took out his scroll and sent a message to Dante.

 **where are you? -N**

After a moment of waiting, the screen on the device lit up and he got his answer.

 **Gonna catch some Zs before we get to the school –D**

Upon reading this, Nero couldn't help but shake his head in exasperation. Most of the time, the younger descendant of Sparda could certainly appreciate Dante's lax behavior, but it was honestly kind of bewildering right now. How any man who was mentally in his forties could be relaxed about going back to fucking _**school**_ was beyond him, legendary demon hunter or not.

" _Never thought I end up at a school for monster hunting. But hey, if there is anything I'd study, this would be it."_ He mused to himself before catching sight of himself in the glass window. Currently, Nero found himself looking at his glorious seventeen year old visage dressed up in the same outfit he wore when he first met Dante. A bright red sleeveless hoody that was covered up with a long, dark blue overcoat that had the insignia of the Order Of The Sword sewn onto each arm. Along with this, he also wore a set of brown boots along with a pair of brown pants topped off by the sling that hid his Devil Bringer. The entire ensemble was dubbed by Credo as his "unofficial uniform" back in his younger days. His weapons still consisted of Red Queen and Blue Rose, which was in it's case and holstered at his hip, respectively.

Quite honestly, it was still baffling to Nero that he somehow became younger by two years. Still, it wasn't exactly a bad thing, now was it? Most people would kill for a chance to be young again, and while his and Dante's current affliction was certainly confusing, there were no immediate negatives either, so he may as well just roll with the situation for the time being. Still, miraculously aging down by two years followed up by having to go back to school all felt kind of contrived. With this in mind, the white-haired young man began to think back to how he got into this situation in the first place...

2 months ago

Nero was currently dressed up in a black T-shirt with blue pants, a dark green apron and a sling for his arm as he walked around his current place of employment, a café located in the middle of Vale. It was small time gig, but the pay was decent so he had no reason to complain, even if serving drinks with only one hand was a pain in the ass. The resigned knight was able to pass his Devil Bring off as being "horribly disfigured" after a nasty accident, which allowed him to wear his sling without arousing much suspicion, thankfully. The owner of this cafe's constant pity about his disability really left a bad taste in his mouth, but it couldn't be helped. He needed a job and he was perfectly capable with just one arm. Picking up the tray of drinks, he took a momentary look towards the lamp-lit streets before he began what he assumed would be his final rounds for the day. He called out behind the counter to get the attention of the manager, a rather small girl with blue and black hair that was tied up in a shoulder-length ponytail, before speaking up.

"Hey Jules, it's getting kinda late. Take inventory and I'll tend to the last of the customers, alright?"

The girl, Jules, as her name was revealed, answered with a curt nod and thumbs up before disappearing into the back. Their dynamic was a bit strange, to say the least. She hired him to get an extra set of hands (Or hand, in Nero's case) to help out around the cafe, but with the way she kept daydreaming about the most inane kind of romantic scenarios, she would often be found neglecting her duties. Considering this was something the girl pulled on a daily basis, Nero had to wonder how she kept this place afloat before he came along. Taking matters into his own hands, the white-haired young man more or less took up all the duties that were required of the manager, something that Jules accepted with open arms.

As Nero walked up to their last patron, a rather mature looking blonde woman in a white dress and an uneven purple cape, he noticed that she had been reading some kind of news article about crime rates skyrocketing before he came up to her. " _Guess troubles like these are common no matter where you go."_ He thought to himself before the woman's expectant coughing brought him back to reality. _"_ Sorry, could you run that by me again _?"_

She sighs in response, clearly annoyed at having to repeat herself. "How much do I owe you?" She repeats, not bothering to look up. Upon hearing this, Nero cursed inwardly, recalling that he forgot to ring the woman up.

"Tell you what, it's on the house." He said quickly, figuring nobody would care if he bent the rules this one time.

"Oh, Why thank you. That's quite considerate, albeit unnecessary." The woman responded, still looking through the device with one hand, and impressively enough, grading an entire stack of papers in the other. " _Whoa, looks like she's had a bit too much practice with that."_ Nero noted to himself, impressed with her ability to multitask so effortlessly. "You can put it down there" She added after a moment, gesturing towards an empty spot on the table.

"Uh… funny thing is, I actually can't." Nero answered simply. Upon hearing this, the blonde sighed once more, her annoyance giving way to irritation. "And just why is that? There's more than enough room on this table, so placing it there is fine."

"I don't think you get it, lady." Nero stated, the courteous tone gone and his patience beginning to wear thin.

Upon hearing the disrespectful tone in his voice, the blonde woman put both items in her hands down, took off her glasses, and turned towards Nero, her annoyance practically seething off her. "Alright then, would you care to explain why you can't do even the most remedial tasks as part of your jo-"However, upon getting a good look at the young man, and more specifically, his slinged up right arm, she fell dead silent, eyes wide in realization.

"Yeah… It's kinda self explanatory, isn't it?" He asked rhetorically with an amused smile on his face before he brought the tray to her level, allowing her to take the offered drink.

"Ah…I'm so so-" she begins,

"sorry, yeah I know. It happens." Nero finished for her, unfazed by the woman's unintentional rudeness. Leaving her to her business, the blonde's eyes drop back to her work, apparently still flustered by what transpired. By the time he made it back to the counter, he saw Jules looking at him with an ear-splitting grin that immediately put the former knight on edge.

"...Dare I ask?" Nero finally said, already dreading what would come out of the eccentric girl's mouth.

"Dude! How meet-cute can you get? Just like that the ice was broken! You're seriously planning on letting a golden opportunity like that go to waste?" Julie whispered excitedly to her co-worker. Ever since he started working for her, she'd been trying to set him up with a pretty girl because quite frankly, she felt that Nero had a lot of potential in the dames department. A mysterious lookin' broody guy with ice-cold eyes and white hair? Stuff like that is pure chick magnet material! Unfortunately, Nero didn't seem to share the same vision as her, as he'd been fighting her attempts to set him up with a girl every step of the way. But god dammit, she wasn't going to let a couple of setbacks like that stop her!

"Okay Jules, I got two things I need to say to you now," Nero began, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "First off, you're a idiot. secondly, _**what the fuck?**_ That chick looks like she's pushing thirty and you wanna set me up with her? I can't even think up the proper sentence to describe how creepy that is." Nero stated bluntly, a deadpan tone in his voice, before he began to hang up his apron.

"Oh, c'mon Nero! Seize life already, you freakin' wet blanket! Just go over and talk to her for a minute!" She insisted, pushing Nero towards the customer's direction.

"Jules, she's working and I just want to get out of here. Can we please avoid going through with another one of your asinine schemes for one day? Just one?" Nero stated flatly, picking up some more cups to serve to the remaining customers. Though avoiding Julie's schemes isn't achieved that easily. She narrowed her eyes at her co-worker before picking up the final cup and tossing the keys into the air in front of Nero's face, causing him to instinctively catch it.

"Well so do I, but I can't lock a customer in. Oh darn, looks like you have to keep her company till she finishes, as I'm heading out!" she says happily as she grabs her jacket and heads out the door.

"Ah, c'mon! I-" However, Nero couldn't even finish his protest before the door to the cage slammed shut and his tormentor skipped away happily, quite pleased with her work. Now, the only people left in the cafe was himself and the blonde woman.

"...Great." The former knight sighed. With nothing else to do, he decided he may as well just accept whatever happens and took a seat at the woman's table, causing her to look up at him with piercing green eyes.

"Quite unprofessional of you, I'd have to say."She stated offhandedly, looking back towards the papers she was grading.

"Spare me the lecture. I'm off the clock." He stated disinterestedly, taking a sip out of his coffee.

"Ah, then it's just discourteous." She continues as she writes

"Look lady, I don't wanna be sitting here any more than you want me to, but I can't lock up for the night until you leave, so you'll just have to grit your teeth and bear my company until then."Nero explained, taking a sip from his coffee as he did so. This statement caused the woman's pen to stop, bringing a smirk to his face. If she wanted to be a bitch, then he would be more than happy to return the favor.

"What is your name?" The woman asked, still not looking up from her work.

"Nero, why?" Nero asked before the woman suddenly offers him her hand, looking up for a moment.

"Hello Nero, my name is Glynda. Glynda Goodwitch." she stated, not even the smallest trace of a smile on her face as Nero shakes her hand after a moment's hesitation.

"Okay… and _**why**_ did you want to know my name exactly?"

"Because I'll be filing a complaint to this café asking for your termination" She stated plainly, returning to her work

"Pfft. Good luck with that one lady, I'm pretty much the only one keeping this place afloat." He retorted with a self-satisfied smirk.. She looks up once more before looking back down and writing a few more things and places all the papers and her pen into a briefcase with a tired sigh.

"I'm finished." She declared, the statement more addressed towards herself rather than Nero as she begins to roll her neck.

"Can we go now?" Nero asked none too politely, standing up from his seat. Upon seeing her nod in response, a pleased smile made it's way onto the former knight's face. With his former courteous mood returning to him, he opened the exit up for Glynda as a show of goodwill and chivalry, which actually got a nod of approval from the huntress. However, as she walked out the door, he noticed her eyes widen for a moment before narrowing. Looking out the door to see what warranted her sudden change of expression, he is then greeted with a rather unpleasant sight.

At the bookstore across the street, Nero saw that a group of armed men in black suits had surrounded the store, their getup and weaponry making it all too clear that a robbery was taking place across the street. Gritting his teeth at the sight, the former knight quickly drew Blue Rose before addressing Glynda, who at that time also had something to say to him.

"Stay here, I'll handle this."

"Stay here and call the police."

They both shot each other a confused look before Glynda shook her head, softly pushing Nero back into the café.

"This is a job for a huntress, not a civilian. Just stay here and don't get hurt." She stated firmly before she began to walk towards the group of men, drawing her riding crop as she did so.

"Excuse me, but what business do you have here? And please state plainly, I don't have the patience to listen to drivel." She asked the crowd of seven, already knowing the answer. In response to this, most of the men drawing their swords and the others began to point their guns at her before a loud ***BANG*** resonated throughout the street and something suddenly flew past Glynda's face.

"Yeah, she really doesn't." A cocky voice rang out, coming from behind the huntress.

It was rather unfortunate to say that Glynda was somewhat used to being shot at, that being said, she was still surprised. Not because of the sudden sound of gunfire, but rather because the gunshot came from behind her. Turning her head, the veteran huntress was greeted with the sight of Nero wielding a very large double barreled revolver, fresh smoke exuding from the tip of the gun. Hoisting the revolver over his shoulder, he began to speak, a nonchalant tone clear in his voice.

"So, why don't we play a game and weigh the odds of the situation here for a sec?" Nero began, strolling up to Glynda as he spoke. "We got a couple dozen goons going up against a cripple and a librarian in high heels. And judging from the performance of your friend there…" He drawled out, gesturing towards the fallen man before resting his revolver on his shoulder.

"You fellas might wanna call in some reinforcements."

In wake of all this, Glynda couldn't help but pinch the bridge of her nose in irritation. "Are you incapable of following even the simplest of instructions?" The blonde huntress asked as the thugs began to surround them.

"Well, I never was one for following rules back home. But don't mind me, you're welcome to take a piece of the action." Nero stated bluntly, now back-to-back with the woman as the men began to surround them.

"I had it the situation under control, young man. Now, thanks to your interference, I have you as a liability to worry about." Glynda argued, her annoyance with Nero growing more and more with each passing second.

"Ah c'mon, try and see things from my perspective. I'm an angsty teen who's mad at the world and doesn't know why. I'm in desperate need of a constructive outlet… and unless you can think of one in the next five seconds, I think I'll just settle for beating the everloving shit outta these guys." As this conversation was going on, more men began to flood out from the store and surround them as well, increasing the size of the growing circle. Nero, now incredibly pleased with his first bit of action in a while, began to speak up, his cocky nature beginning to take over.

"So this is the part where you guys all charge us one at a time, right?" He asked, a faux-hopefulness in his voice.

And then, likely just to spite Nero, all the goons present charged them at once.

"Well, it was worth a shot."

"Would it kill you to be silent for just a minute?" Glynda sighed, using her riding crop to create a wave of energy that knocked a good amount of the men back.

"Hey, you were in the middle of getting me fired, remember? I don't owe you a damn thing, lady." Nero retorted before pistol whipping the nearest thug with his revolver, following it up by hooking the man right next to him. Next, in the blink of an eye, he grabbed the tie of the one he punched and proceeded to swing the hapless man into his his slouched over ally, who was still recovering from the pistol whip to the face he took. After dispatching the two of them, the white-haired young man then aimed Blue Rose and fired with pin-point accuracy, each shot shattering the aura of the thugs. While all this was happening, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Glynda was having just an easy time of this as he was, leaving him rather impressed.

" _He seems to be quite capable."_ Glynda noted as she watched Nero _"good, seems I won't have to multitask watching him and fighting off these thugs."_ Now that it was clear that she didn't have to worry about Nero, she brought all of her attention to her foes, five of which currently rushing her. Taking this in stride, She used her powers to cause their weapons to dangle in the air with their hands attached. Using this to her advantage, the huntress sent a shockwave slamming into the men, sending them all out of commision simultaneously. While she was doing this, one of the men attempted to get the drop on her and slice her apart with his red blade, but before the blade could even connect with Glynda, she merely raised her hand to stop the blade dead in it's tracks. Not even bothering to look towards the goon, she sent him careening away with a flick of her wrist. While all this was happening, Nero had one of the thugs pinned down to the ground at gunpoint.

"Hope no one misses you." Nero stated nonchalantly before pulling the trigger, getting a whimper out of the goon and an empty *click* from blue rose. The experience itself made the man faint, thus giving the charade it's intended effect. He sighed cathartically before holstering the revolver and turning towards Glynda, who was now looking at him with a cold, analytical gaze.

"Waiters don't fight like that." She stated, Narrowing her eyes at Nero. In response, he could only shrug his shoulders before looking towards the last two conscious men, who were currently shambling down the street in an attempt to get away from them both.

"Ah C'mon, why don't you cut me some slack? Is a waiter that knows how to take care of himself really that rare of a sight around here?" Nero asked jokingly. However, when the blonde's steely gaze didn't falter, he began to grow uncomfortable. "...So uh… we gonna spend all night staring at each other, or are you actually gonna go after them?"

Glynda kept her gaze on Nero for another moment before she went after the two fleeing men, intending to wring some information out of the two of them. Now that he was finally alone, the white-haired young man let out a small sigh of relief. "Well… that was kind of a let-down." The whitehead thought aloud, rather disappointed with how easy that was.

"Ay, Nero! you look like you just got dumped, kiddo." a voice suddenly called out to him from behind, and Nero didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. Doing so anyway, the former knight turned around to see Dante walking over to him with his guitar case slung over his back, admiring the mess he left as he did so.

" Phew! And if this is how you take it every time, then I can see why you stayed single." He prodded playfully, patting Nero on the back forcefully.

"Oh great, you too. And here I thought Jules getting on my case about that was a gigantic pain in my ass." Nero sighed, holstering Blue Rose and pocketing his keys before turning to Dante, a displeased frown on his face.

"Well, who knows? Maybe the universe is trying to tell you something."

"That you and her think alike, should elope and get the hell out of my face?" Nero asked, faux-hopefulness in his voice once again.

"Not on your life… So, what did these guys do to deserve….well…" Dante motions to the unconscious and out of commission bodies of the crowd of goons "all this?"

"They pissed off a chick with a riding crop." He stated simply before he began walking, sirens now closing in.

"Great to see that the fuzz showed up in the nick of time." Nero sarcastically quips as he and Dante begin to walk down the street only to be stopped by a police car and then systematically surrounded.

"…Well, this long night just got a lot longer."

 **Elsewhere…**

"You're a huntress….can I have your autograph?!" Ruby pleaded excitedly, causing Glynda to stare at her with an unreadable expression. After chasing down those two men, she was eventually led to Ruby Rose, who fought off another group of criminals that seemed to were trying to rob another nearby store, this one stocked with tons of dust.

"Come with me…" she commanded quietly but harshly, already in a bad mood thanks to having to deal with Nero.

 **With Nero**

"Dante… what in the FUCK did you do this time?" Nero spat, glaring his partner.

The reason for this question was because the two of them now found themselves surrounded entirely by police officers who were all pointing their weapons at them, sirens blaring in the background.

"What I did? I didn't do anything!" Dante retorted, just as confused as Nero was.

"You match the description of a wanted arsonist guilty of burning down an establishment downtown, and the fact that you're not in any of our known records and own unregistered weaponry is also cause for concern." An officer stated while two others had opened his guitar case to find Rebellion concealed inside.

"Arson? When did I- … oh that son of a BITCH!" Dante yells suddenly before he attempts to explain himself to the officers. "Look boys, the asshole in charge of that place just decided to pin all that on me because he hates me! If you want the _**real**_ culprit, then look for this blonde chick in yellow! It was her! Not m- HEY! EASE OFF, JACKASS!" The half demon protests when one of the officers grabs his forearm none too gently.

"Enough, book em." The cop demands, ordering the others to take their weapons and get them into the car.

"Wait, 'them?' why me? Only thing I did was your guys' JOB with those goons over there!" Nero seethed through gritted teeth.

"You BOTH are without documentation, you BOTH match the description, and you BOTH are carrying unpermitted and unregistered weaponry. So you BOTH are coming with us." The officer stated, forcing them both into the back of the car.

"Now, I know what you're going to say…" Dante starts, only to be cut off.

"Oh, you do? Well then you also know that I want you to go _**die in a pit.**_ " Nero stated flatly, in no mood to deal with whatever bullshit story Dante would try to feed him.

"Would it kill you to give the benefit of the doubt every once in awhile? Hell, trust just so happens to be one of the most essential parts of any relationship." The elder defended, although Nero wasn't going to have any of it.

"What a crock. And Just where the hell did you pick up that little tidbit? The back of a dirty magazine?" He snarked, well aware that Dante was the least reliable source of advice for any kind of relationship.

I DIDN'T you punk!... I heard about it in a movie I watched."

"Well doesn't that make me feel better about this entire situation." Nero stated flatly.

"Quiet back there!" The officer stated up front. However, his words fell upon deaf ears as the two of them continued to argue.

"Kid, c'mon. gimme a break here. It's not like this is an actual problem for us. I mean, what exactly is stopping us from breaking these cuff, kicking the door down and showing these boys in blue our favorite finger before moving on to green pastures?" Dante suggested, only to get a questioning gaze from Nero.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe becoming wanted men and getting hunted down by a bunch of freaks with crazy-ass weapons?"

"Well then what's your plan, smart guy?" Dante demanded, beginning to grow fed up with Nero's attitude.

"Well, I still haven't exactly worked out all the kinks yet, but one pivotal point in this grand plan of mine would be that neither of us RUN AROUND COMMITTING ARSON!" He suddenly yelled out, growing increasingly angry.

"I already told you and the asshole up front that that WASN'T me!" Dante declared once more. In response to this entire argument, the driver couldn't help but sigh, beginning to get the feeling that this was going to be a long night for everyone involved with these two.

 **Elsewhere…**

Ozpin sat in the station, having come down at the request of his field agent to look into the matter, his intervention being seconded by his colleague, one Miss Glynda Goodwitch.

"So…she fought them off….with /that/?" The headmaster asked her out of disbelief, if only because he was watching the video right then and there himself.

"Yes, she did. She is skilled but lacks discipline." Glenda provides, arms crossed

"How did you come across her?"

"Why are you focusing on the girl when I've said that they were mobilized with organized strikes? They wanted to steal all the dust in that all the bookstore owner, Tuskin, held in his savings as well as all the available dust in the other store. This was staged, and well planned too."

"Though not enough to survive the intervention of you and; how did you put it…. a rude, foul-mouthed crip-

"-Crippled teenager, yes." Glynda stated while pacing behind Ozpin's chair. He nodded in affirmation before taking another drink from his mug, flipping through the video feed.

"Hmm… you said he fought with a revolver, correct?"

"yes"

"Sixteen to eighteen years of age at a glance?"

"Yes"

"White hair, blue eyes?"

"Ye- No, I didn't mention that, How did you-" She realized, stopping her pacing to look at her colleague. In response to this question, Ozpin took another sip out of his mug before holding up his mug, showing off the security feed. "Because he's in the holding cell next to Ms. Rose."

 **With Nero…**

AS Nero sat, handcuffed to the table, he was already thinking of any way he could run damage control on this situation. However, he didn't have much time to ponder his and Dante's beyond making a break for it before a grey haired man with a cane and black suit walked into the room and sat opposite to himself.

.

.

.

"Alright, I'll bite. You the bad cop, or the good cop?" Nero prodded at the oddly dressed officer before Glynda suddenly strolls into the room behind him, a look of disdain on her face as she looks at him, now likely assuming that he was just some common criminal.

"...Good cop it is then." He remarked to himself before Ozpin began to speak up, a small smile on his face.

"Nero, was it?" Ozpin inquired politely.

"…yeah, that's right."

"Well Nero, my name is Professor Ozpin, and as the title implies, I am not a police officer. Though what interests me is not what you did to get in this situation, it's more of what you plan to do when you get out." Ozpin asked, scrolling through the street cam footage his colleague provided.

"…oh yeah? And what's it to you?" Nero asked defensively, a bit off put by the man's question.

"Well, I only asked because you have no record of birth nor formal training of any kind to be able to fight the way you do. Not only that, but that revolver of yours is custom made and has a serial number that doesn't seem to match up with anything. To top all this off, you don't carry any form of identification, meaning that there's very little proof of your existence…" Pausing, Ozpin took a moment to drink out of his mug and catch his breath before continuing. "of course, that's all before six years ago." He finished, looking Nero in the eyes, which only causes him to look right back, cold blue eyes narrowed

"You're one of those annoying 'I have eyes everywhere' types, aren't you?" Nero accused, earning a small laugh out of the headmaster.

"Some might say that, although I assure you I am just the headmaster of a school." Ozpin answered modestly, although Nero wasn't buying any of it.

"Yeah, a school that trains people to fight monsters." Nero snarked, getting a nod of confirmation from Ozpin.

"Have you thought about joining?"

"Well, the thought did cross my mind a while back… but I don't have the papers, and I was too old to join the Signal when I… uh… y'know, 'appeared.' Plus, I'm not old enough to apply at Beacon yet, so I figured 'why waste the time?' Besides, considering I was just getting settled in and everything now, I didn't really give it any more thought than I did then." Nero explained, leaning back into his chair.

He wasn't lying, he just didn't have the credentials to attend the school, he didn't even like the idea of school life, and he certainly didn't feel like trying to answer questions that he barely understood himself. All in all, getting into Beacon just seemed like too much of a hassle. In response to this explanation, Ozpin hummed in thought for a moment before responding, placing his mug on the table.

"What if I could change all that, and make this all go away as a bonus, would you attend my school then?" He asked the not-so hypothetical question.

"...Okay, say I accept this offer of yours, what's the inevitable catch?'"

"For one, you must become a hunter, join the school and board there, you will attend classes and after you're sorted into your team, you will tell me on how you got here."

Nero's suspicions were confirmed; this is the kind of guy who always knew what was happening…this was less than ideal. Ozpin continued, offering the alternative.

"Or you can decline, we can leave and you can…carry out your sentence." He strikes home hard. Nero's choice was clear but he still had some concerns.

"And just why are you giving me this generous second chance, huh?" The question had plagued him since the mysterious teach had offered to pull all the necessary strings.

"Because I'm currently looking at a young man who jumped headfirst into a fight with fifteen armed men to help someone who he quite clearly didn't like." Ozpin explained, mentioning the last part with a bit of mirth.

"So in my view, you're either crazy, a hero, or both…and my school is home to any combination of those." He finished, waiting for a reply. Nero thought this over and quickly came to a decision. He wasn't a waiter, he was a fighter, and while not one for school life; he would put up with it if that meant he could fight again. He had power and he promised his mentor he'd use it. Which reminded him…

"Alright teach, you got yourself a deal. As long as I get one stipulation to go along with all this."

Upon hearing this, Ozpin quirked a brow and leaned forward with interest "and that would be?"

"A plus one, and don't worry, I can vouch for him."

 **End flashback…**

Nero was brought out of his recollection when some commotion began going on near him; turning towards the source of the noise, he noticed a tall girl with long blonde hair with lilac eyes gleefully hugging a much shorter girl with a red hood, pale skin, and notable silver eyes.

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going with me to Beacon! This has to be the best day ever!

' _She got in early, huh? Well, looks like I'm not the only one.'_ Nero mused as the girls' conversation continued.

For the most part, Nero didn't pay much attention to any of their conversation, but his attention was drawn back to it when he heard what the silver-eyed girl was saying

"Of course I'm excited, it's just…I got moved ahead two years, I don't want people to think I'm special or anything." The redhead admits.

"but you are special." The blonde reassured her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"So uh… not to interrupt you ladies or anything, but I think you're reading a bit too deeply into this." Nero began, catching the two girls' attention. "What's so bad about being good at what you do? Besides, getting better at it is what a lot of the people are here for." He stated simply before leaning back into the railing.

"Besides, you and I are in the same boat. I was moved ahead too… hell, I didn't even go to Signal." He admitted with a shrug.

"You…didn't? Then how did you get here?" The redhead asked with a confused tilt of her head.

"Because I'm a badass, plain and simple." Nero stated dryly, looking away from the two. He was a bit embarrassed at saying something so cheesy but the girl seemed to appreciate it.

"Glad to see you're being modest about it." Yang joked, looking towards the former knight with an amused smile.

"Please, if you think that's bad, then you should try spending a minute with my partner. The jackass can't seem to talk without running his mouth." Nero joked, now grateful that Dante was off somewhere sleeping and not with him currently. God only knows what kind of shit he would say to these two if he was here.

"Well, I'm glad to know I'm at not the only one who was moved ahead at least. Thanks, uh…?"

"Nero."

"Thanks Nero, I'm Ruby and this is my big sister ya-"

"I'm yang!" The chipper blonde finished for her.

"Nice to meetcha." Nero says with a nod. He noticed Ruby staring at his arm in the sling and so did yang, apparent from the bop on the head and the not- so hushed whispers of "it's impolite to stare," all this getting a small laugh out of Nero.

" Uhm… sorry for staring. It must really suck breaking an arm just before getting into Beacon." Ruby apologized sheepishly.

"Well, it's not broken, per say, it's just-"

"a fashion statement?" Yang cut in suddenly, holding up a finger.

"Disfigured."

"Ooooh…" yang deflated, muttering a small apology.

"Eh, don't worry about it. Besides, it probably wouldn't be fair to the rest of the students here if I had both arms, now would it?" He reassures with a smirk on his face, his reassurance killing the awkward tension that was in the air.

"Heh is that so, killer? Well I guess I know who I'll want to have my back," yang joked, holding up her fist, a cocky smile on her face.

"Seems like it." Nero smirked, slamming his fist into hers, the audible sound of both their knuckles popping at the rough impact.

After another moment of conversing between the three, the airship begins to descend as they reach Beacon, which in turn causes everybody present to head towards the exit of the vessel. In response to this, Nero pulled out his scroll and sent Dante a message ( **Get up and get your things, we're here.)** before pocketing the device and looking at the large school with his two new acquaintances.

"There it is! Beacon academy! I can't wait for this year to start. Right? Right?" Yang exclaims excitedly, nudging Nero's and her sister's shoulder.

"Yeah, sounds like it'll be one hell of a party." Nero remarked, excitement building within him despite his best efforts to conceal it, all the while spoken in the words of a man he held a lot of respect for.


	7. where i stand

hello readers! i've been busy these past few months, and frankly this story has never been far from my mind. always thinking of the next chapter, the next arc, the finale, all of it. i want to get it out, i NEED to get it out now. just an itch i can't scratch. so i'm gonna scratch it! i have the next chapter written out and ready to go except i need a beta reader to proof read it (one who doesn't mind giving input, holding a conversation about the content, and fixing my somewhat cringey punctuation would be perfect) if this is you and you'd like updates before they're released and have a bit of sway for where the story goes? PM me as soon as possible because people are waiting on us! let's get this started back up people!

sincerely,

The Cap


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